It's ironic that Alice Hyatt of the big screen (and later small screen) and Carrie Miller of the small screen were played by actresses who seemed quite liberated and ahead of their time. Ellen Burstyn and Linda Lavin are definitely actresses who suffer no fools, and the TV movie counterpart of Alice (Carrie) is played by someone equally as commanding, the often controversial Lee Grant who crossed a few lines in her day and always came out a winner. Both Alice and Carrie are troubled women stuck as the shadow of their man, mothers of one child, and suddenly striking out on their own, Alice as a widow and Carrie on the verge of a breakdown, certain that husband William Smithers is having an affair. Instead of a sarcastic teenaged son, Carrie has a young daughter, the outspoken Paula (Denise Nickerson), and like Alice and her son Tommy, Carrie and Paula rely on each other for constant support. Often, Paula seems like the adult with Carrie finding that she is unable to meet her husband's expectations for running the house, and that leads to a near breakdown right in front of Paula.
Fortunately, the script allows Smithers to show some sympathy to his wife, asking her while in bed if she thinks that he is too hard on her. This gets Carrie thinking that she does need a break from him, and gets daughter Paula up and takes off, obviously not the first time this has occurred. They stop off at a highway hamburger joint where Carrie promptly passes out while still behind the wheel and Paula takes on the adult responsibility of getting some grub, even making a few pennies, as she befriends the bedraggled proprietor, Jones (Gig Young). When Carrie comes to and meets Jones, she is surprised as to how fast he has bonded with her daughter, and they spend the night. Jones and Paula become confidantes, Carrie begins to gain some insight into the changes she needs to make in her life, and for the first time, all begins to seem right in her world as she finds adventure in Jones' little dream world which includes a neon ceiling that seemingly brings him to life every time he turns it on.
The powerful performances by Grant, Nickerson and Young makes this TV movie one of the first classics of that genre, the movie of the week, and the number of acting nominations it received from the Emmys were truly deserved with Grant deserving her prize. She's more than just another diary of a mad housewife. She's an analogy of all of the smart women forced to hide behind apron strings and pies and grouchy, unappreciative husbands, someone who deserves so much better but seems forced to stick with what she's got. None of these characters are perfect, and neither are they clichés. Grant goes off on Young for disciplining Nickerson with a smack, and is shocked when he responds that he's doing what she should have been doing all along.
Fans of "Willie Wonka" and "Dark Shadows" will be thrilled to see the young Denise Nickerson who is quite a natural young actress and deserves to be remembered for something more than just a big blue outfit that turned her into a blueberry. It's a remarkably intelligent performance for someone so young, and while she's smart mouthed and often bratty, she's not obnoxiously annoying. In fact, she's a bit of a guardian angel for her troubled mother, and if you can act opposite Lee Grant and come off looking good, you know you've succeeded in your job. As for Young, he allows his troubled personal life to really make his character work all the more, showing how years of a far too active party life have impacted him, particularly in a scene where he confronts Nickerson without a shirt on. This isn't a glamourized portrayal of a much troubled man, but someone with a soul whose disappointments are still hiding his hopes to find his dreams. The screenplay and direction are superb which makes this one of the very best TV movies of all time.
Fortunately, the script allows Smithers to show some sympathy to his wife, asking her while in bed if she thinks that he is too hard on her. This gets Carrie thinking that she does need a break from him, and gets daughter Paula up and takes off, obviously not the first time this has occurred. They stop off at a highway hamburger joint where Carrie promptly passes out while still behind the wheel and Paula takes on the adult responsibility of getting some grub, even making a few pennies, as she befriends the bedraggled proprietor, Jones (Gig Young). When Carrie comes to and meets Jones, she is surprised as to how fast he has bonded with her daughter, and they spend the night. Jones and Paula become confidantes, Carrie begins to gain some insight into the changes she needs to make in her life, and for the first time, all begins to seem right in her world as she finds adventure in Jones' little dream world which includes a neon ceiling that seemingly brings him to life every time he turns it on.
The powerful performances by Grant, Nickerson and Young makes this TV movie one of the first classics of that genre, the movie of the week, and the number of acting nominations it received from the Emmys were truly deserved with Grant deserving her prize. She's more than just another diary of a mad housewife. She's an analogy of all of the smart women forced to hide behind apron strings and pies and grouchy, unappreciative husbands, someone who deserves so much better but seems forced to stick with what she's got. None of these characters are perfect, and neither are they clichés. Grant goes off on Young for disciplining Nickerson with a smack, and is shocked when he responds that he's doing what she should have been doing all along.
Fans of "Willie Wonka" and "Dark Shadows" will be thrilled to see the young Denise Nickerson who is quite a natural young actress and deserves to be remembered for something more than just a big blue outfit that turned her into a blueberry. It's a remarkably intelligent performance for someone so young, and while she's smart mouthed and often bratty, she's not obnoxiously annoying. In fact, she's a bit of a guardian angel for her troubled mother, and if you can act opposite Lee Grant and come off looking good, you know you've succeeded in your job. As for Young, he allows his troubled personal life to really make his character work all the more, showing how years of a far too active party life have impacted him, particularly in a scene where he confronts Nickerson without a shirt on. This isn't a glamourized portrayal of a much troubled man, but someone with a soul whose disappointments are still hiding his hopes to find his dreams. The screenplay and direction are superb which makes this one of the very best TV movies of all time.